| Amenia | |||||||||||
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Amenia Station site, circa 2009. Note remaining platform light at right. |
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| Address | 15 Railroad Avenue and Depot Hill Road Amenia, NY, 12501 |
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| Tracks | 0 | ||||||||||
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| Opened | 1905 - March 22, 1972 passenger Service); March 27, 1980 (freight) | ||||||||||
| Fare zone | 10 | ||||||||||
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The Amenia NYCRR train station served the residents of Amenia, New York via the Harlem Line. Trains left for New York City every two hours. It is 85 miles (136 km) from Grand Central Terminal and travel time to Grand Central was approximately two hours, sixteen minutes.
The station consisted of a single low-level platform, on the west side of the single track line. Amenia is the only station on the Harlem Line named for one of the senses as opposed to a name derived from a person or object. Amenia means "pleasant", or pleasing to the eye.
Amenia held an annual field day in 1913 and 1914, where Harlem trains brought hundreds of passengers up from Grand Central Terminal. The field day was held at the fairgrounds on North Road Amenia, which played host to many early industries in upper Dutchess County.
Early businesses and industries in the town included a tannery, steelworks, a dairy and milk plant and three important iron mines, all of which utilized the railroad as a means of shipping and receiving goods. All business was located in close proximity to the tracks, making the Harlem Line the common carrier for each. Several large hotels were constructed in town, most notably, the Barton House and the Amenia Inn.
Passenger service was eliminated by Penn Central Railroad in 1972, and freight service was eliminated by Conrail in 1980. Today, the railroad line was converted into the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.[1]
One of the early New York and Harlem steam locomotives was named Amenia.